The Director of Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP), Professor Joseph Alcamo, made the following statement regarding the University of Sussex's declaration of a climate emergency today.
"The climate emergency is part of worldwide matrix of problems that needs to be dealt with in a unified way. In particular, climate protection is closely tied with the global Sustainable Development goals.
"For example, research at Sussex and elsewhere has shown that the global goal to end world hunger won’t be reached without farmers adapting to climate change; that the goal for giving everyone fair access to energy has to be met with renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuels so that greenhouse gases can be drastically cut; that global goals for health, and for water, will be tough to meet unless we slow down climate change.
"It’s time to combine efforts for protecting climate with other important goals for ending hunger, reducing poverty, and protecting the environment. To do so we need more research and academic work, more cooperation among government departments, and more collective action in communities around the world."